


Ask and Seek

by Brumeier



Series: Paranormal Task Force [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Ghosts, M/M, Prompt Fill, Spells & Enchantments, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 12:18:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12817368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Wizards and Witches prompt:Any, any, I put a spell on youIn which Chin has a magical offer for Bethany and Danny feels conflicted.





	Ask and Seek

**Author's Note:**

> For the Magic AU challenge at the [What If: AU comm](https://whatif-au.dreamwidth.org/).

"Say yes, Danno! Tell him yes! Yes, yes, yes!" 

It was hard to ignore the teenage ghost jumping up and down in front of him, every 'yes' reaching new octaves, but Danny managed it somehow. 

"That's really something you can do?" he asked Chin, who'd come over to help him move the new conference table into the back of the bookstore. 

"With the help of my coven. I really think we can pull it off." 

Once upon a time, Bethany had been the weirdest thing about his life. But he was working with a techno-witch and a woman who could suss out a person's life story just by touching them. And now Chin seemed to think he could work some magic that would let him and Kono interact with Bethany the same way Danny and Steve did. 

It should've been exciting. Even just having other people know about Bethany had been such a thrill, and a welcome change. But this...Danny wasn't feeling good about this and he didn't know why. 

"I'm gonna need some time to think about it," he said finally. 

Chin nodded and went back to hooking up one of his many laptops – the back of the store wasn't the most glamorous HQ but it was all they had – but Bethany glowered. 

"How is this even your decision?" she asked, hands on her hips. "I want them to see me! I want to talk to Kono!" 

"Not now," Danny replied tersely. He brushed past her into the storage room, looking for the extra chairs, but Bethany trailed after him. 

"You're not being fair! I want to do this!" 

Danny sighed. "Just because you _can_ do something doesn't mean you _should_. You need to look at the pros and cons, you need to --" 

"Shut up!" Bethany shouted. A stack of books went flying across the storage room, slapping into the shelves on the far side, and Danny flinched. "Just because I'm tied to you doesn't mean you get to make all the decisions! You're not my father!" 

Before Danny could respond to that Bethany disappeared. 

"Everything okay?" Chin poked his head into the room, eyeing the fallen books. 

"Teenagers," Danny replied weakly. "Before I know it I'll have two on my hands, which I'm pretty sure is one of the signs of the apocalypse." 

Chin didn't pry, for which Danny was grateful. He was having a hard enough time sorting out his feelings without having to talk about them. They went back to setting up the new task force's work space. 

He should've known he couldn't dodge that bullet indefinitely. 

A couple hours later Steve popped up at the bookstore. Chin had gone, and Danny was on one of the new computers reviewing the budget the Governor had given them to see if they could afford the additional items they'd need. 

"Hey. Danny." 

Steve was another problem he couldn't figure out. There was attraction there, sure; the man was friggin' gorgeous. But Danny hadn't forgotten that Steve had been disingenuous with him from the get-go, and he wasn't willing to pursue anything with someone he couldn't trust. 

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Danny asked without looking up from the laptop. 

Steve dropped into the chair next to him, and Danny was all too aware of how close he was. He could smell Steve's aftershave. 

"Bethany came to see me." 

"Of course she did." Danny looked up, but there was no sign of his ghost or her ubiquitous pink hoodie. "I appreciate you coming all the way over here to argue on her behalf, but --" 

"I'm not here to argue," Steve said, holding his hands up. "I'm just curious why you don't think it's a good idea." 

As if Danny hadn't been thinking about it all day. "I don't know." He snapped the lid of the laptop shut and got up to pace. 

"Might help to talk about it," Steve suggested. 

He leaned back in the chair and his shirt pulled across his ridiculously defined chest. For one moment Danny could vividly remember how it had felt to kiss him in that witch's closet, and his face flushed with heat. 

"I don't need to talk about it, okay?" Then again, it was either talk or stare at Steve's pecs. "On the surface it's the perfect plan. I wouldn’t have to be the middle man for all of Bethany's conversations anymore." 

"But?" 

"But it's been just the two of us for a long time," Danny said. He paced down the length of the table and back again. "You know, when I woke up in the hospital and she was there, it was freaky. And...kind of nice. Not the reason, but just having someone on my side for a change. Someone who cared how I was doing." 

It had been a dark time. He'd been fighting with Rachel over custody, and losing his job had been almost more than he could take on top of that. Bethany had been mourning the loss of her life, and the loss of her connection to her family. Somehow it had been easier, going through that with her instead of trying to do it on his own. 

"You don't want to share her," Steve said. 

"No, it's not...that's not...huh." Danny plopped back down in his hair and scrubbed a hand over his face. "That makes me sound like a dick." 

How had he not seen it? As much as he bitched about being the intermediary for Bethany in her interactions with Chin and Kono, he kind of liked that she needed him to be that for her. It was incredibly selfish of him. Bethany would never grow up, would never marry someone and move away, not like Grace would someday. He may not have been Bethany's biological father, but that didn't stop him from feeling that she was his daughter. 

"You're not a dick," Steve said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "You just need to give her a little freedom. Expand her social circle by two more people. It'll be good for her." 

Of course it would. Bethany was tied to Danny, which meant she was limited in the places she could go. And even more limited in who she could interact with. She'd never grow up, but that didn't mean she couldn't _grow_. 

"When did you get so smart?" 

Steve grinned, his whole face lighting up with it. "You're an easy read, Danny." 

Getting involved with Steve would be a huge mistake. Enormous, even. But Danny found himself leaning in and kissing him anyway. Just a quick, chaste kiss with only a hint of tongue. He was gratified at the stunned expression on Steve's face when he pulled back. 

"Not that easy," Danny said. He pulled out his cell phone. "Guess I should call Chin." 

Bethany burst into visibility, sitting right on the edge of the table and startling Danny so much he fumbled his phone and almost dropped it. 

"Thank you, Danno! Thank you so much! I promise you won't regret it!" 

"We'll see."

*o*o*o* 

Chin's coven was surprisingly far-flung: Utah, Texas, Germany, New Zealand. They were twelve faces sharing split screens on Chin's laptops, which were arranged in a circle around him, Kono, and Bethany, who were in turn standing inside a protective circle chalked on the hardwood floor. Both Kono and Chin were shirtless, though Kono was wearing a sports bra.

They were in Chin's living room, which was lit solely by laptop screens and white pillar candles. A purification ritual had already been performed and now they were getting to the actual spell. Danny and Steve sat off to the side, and Danny was grateful for the company; he found the whole thing just a little creepy. 

"Let's begin," Chin said. 

He was holding a small silver bowl full of oil. He dipped his finger in and dabbed a bit of the oil on Kono's forehead and then his own. 

"By the power of water, I see clearly. I ask and I seek. Reveal what is hidden." 

The coven spoke the words along with him, which Danny understood was meant to amplify the power of the magic that was being performed. He practically had to bite his tongue to keep from making nervous jokes about David Copperfield. 

Chin dabbed oil on Kono's throat, and then his own. "By the power of air, I speak honestly. I ask and I seek. Reveal what is hidden." 

A dab of oil over the heart. "By the power of fire, my desire is known. I ask and I seek. Reveal what is hidden." 

A dab of oil over the bellybutton. "By the power of earth, I remain steadfast. I ask and I seek. Reveal what is hidden." 

Chin set aside the bowl and reached for Kono's hands. Bethany moved so she was sandwiched between them. 

"Reveal this girl who is hidden from our eyes. Reveal her voice which is muffled from our ears. By the power of water, air, fire and earth, we seek to know Bethany Hanlon, and be known to her in return." 

Danny's arms broke out in gooseflesh and he swore he felt a crackle in the air, as if Chin's power was moving through the room. He glanced over at Steve, who seemed entranced. In fact, he didn't even look like he was breathing. Danny put his hand on Steve's arm, squeezing, and Steve sucked in a gasping breath. 

"Are you okay?" Danny hissed under his breath. 

Steve just nodded, which wasn't exactly encouraging, but then there was a bright, glowing light from the center of the circle. It flared and faded, and then Chin and Kono were grinning at Bethany. 

"Hey, kid," Kono said. "Nice to meet you." 

Bethany grinned back at her, then looked at Danny over her shoulder. _Thank you_ , she mouthed. 

"You did a good thing," Steve murmured next to his ear. 

"We'll see," Danny replied.


End file.
